1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers generally to a paper roll driving apparatus, and more particularly to a paper roll driving apparatus for use in a paper roll feeding apparatus that supports a plurality of paper rolls, continuously feeds a paper web by sequentially splicing paper rolls as the paper web is consumed in the course of printing operation, and is adapted to feed paper rolls of different widths; the paper roll driving unit for driving and rotating a new paper roll supported at a paper roll splicing position at which a paper roll is spliced to the paper web.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of paper roll driving apparatuses for driving and rotating a paper roll supported in a paper roll feeding apparatus that supports a plurality of paper rolls and continuously feed a paper web by sequentially splicing new paper rolls to the paper web as the paper web is consumed include the two apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Sho-63(1988)-48785 and the one disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei-6(1994)-78136.
The first apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Sho-63(1988)-48785 comprises a paper roll supporting device that can support both sides of a paper roll via supporting members having a driven accelerating roller (or a driven accelerating gear) and is supported by a rotating shaft movably along with the rotating shaft and rotatably together with the rotating shaft, a rack having a paper roll driving motor mounted thereon; the rack being supported by a guide rod and a rack shaft, both provided in parallel with the rotating shaft; adapted so that the rack can be moved along the guide rod and the rack shaft by rotating by an operating handle a pinion meshed with a rack on the rack shaft; and a new paper roll accelerating device comprising an arm having at the free end thereof a driving accelerating roller (or a driving accelerating gear) that is adapted so that the arm can pivot around the axial center of the shaft thereof at a predetermined angle, and an air cylinder for pivoting the arm at a predetermined angle; the first paper roll driving apparatus being adapted to drive the paper roll via the supporting members by causing the rack to move along the guide rod and the rack shaft by rotating the pinion by the operating handle while supporting the paper roll by causing the paper roll supporting device to move along the rotating shaft in accordance with the width and the loading position of the paper roll, and operating the new paper roll accelerating device by matching the position of the new paper roll accelerating device with the position of the driven accelerating roller (or driven accelerating gear) that has been moved as a result of the movement of the paper roll supporting device and bringing the driving accelerating roller (or driving accelerating gear) and the driven accelerating roller (or driven accelerating gear) into contact (or into mesh) with each other.
The second apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Sho-63(1988)-48785 comprises a paper roll supporting device supported by the rotating shaft thereof rotatably along with the rotating shaft and movably in the axial direction of the rotating shaft for supporting a paper roll via supporting members, a rack mounted on the paper roll supporting device in such a manner as to be rotatable around the rotating shaft center, an attitude holding means for holding the rack in a predetermined attitude by preventing the rack from rotating together with the paper roll supporting device, and a new paper roll accelerating device for driving and rotating the paper roll by causing a driven accelerating roller mounted on a supporting member to rotate by a driving accelerating roller rotated by a variable speed control motor (paper roll driving motor) mounted on the rack; the second apparatus being adapted to rotate the paper roll via the supporting members by supporting the paper roll by causing the paper roll supporting device to move along the rotating shaft in accordance with the width and the loading position of the paper roll, and causing the new paper roll accelerating device mounted on the paper roll supporting device via the rack to move along with the paper roll supporting device without changing the relative positions of the driving accelerating roller and the driven accelerating roller mounted on the supporting member and to operate at the position after being moved by bringing the driving accelerating roller (or driving accelerating gear) and the driven accelerating roller (or driven accelerating gear) into contact (or into mesh) with each other.
An apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei-6(1994)-78136 comprises a drive source mounted on the outside of a frame, a paper roll support supported by a rotating shaft rotatably together with the rotating shaft; the paper roll support adapted so as to support both sides of a paper roll via a supporting member having a toothed pulley and move along a rotating shaft, and a paper roll driving mechanism comprising a sub frame supported by a guide lever provided in parallel with the rotating shaft in such a manner as to move along the guide lever by the telescopic motion of the rod of a hydraulic cylinder provided in parallel with the guide lever, a driving shaft connected to the sub frame in parallel with the rotating shaft and rotatably, while passing through one of the sub frame and the frame, in such a manner as to be rotated by the drive source, an arm provided on the driving shaft in such a manner as to pivot around the driving shaft center and having a double-side toothed timing belt driven by the drive source via the driving shaft provided between a driving-side toothed pulley provided on the driving shaft and a pivoting-side toothed pulley provided on the pivoting side, and a hydraulic cylinder for pivoting the arm, the apparatus adapted to support a paper roll by causing the paper roll support to move along the rotating shaft in accordance with the width of the paper roll and to move the position of the paper roll driving mechanism in accordance with the movement of the paper roll support until the position of the paper roll support agrees with the position of the toothed pulley provided on the support member by causing the sub frame to move along the guide lever by the telescopic motion of the rod of the hydraulic cylinder, so that the paper roll is caused to rotate via the support member by operating the paper roll driving mechanism by engaging the double-face toothed timing belt with the toothed pulley provided on the support member.
The first apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Sho-63(1988)-48785 had a problem as mentioned in that document. That is, as the paper roll supporting device is caused to move along the rotating shaft to load a new paper roll having a different paper width, the driven accelerating roller mounted on the paper roll supporting device via the supporting member is also caused to move. For this reason, the rack, the paper roll driving motor mounted on the rack and the new paper roll accelerating device including the driving accelerating roller have had to be moved to the position of the driven accelerating roller mounted on the paper roll supporting device via the supporting member. This moving operation, however, has had to be carried out manually by an operator, requiring a lot of time in printing preparation. Alignment of the driving accelerating roller and the driven accelerating roller has also been troublesome, and a large misalignment could cause a slip of the driving accelerating roller or a damage to it, causing a trouble in paper roll splicing, adversely affecting printing operation.
The second apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Sho-63(1988)-48785 was conceived to overcome the aforementioned problem with the first apparatus. In the second apparatus having such a construction that the rack is mounted on the paper roll supporting device supported by the rotating shaft, and the variable-speed control motor (paper roll driving motor) and the new paper roll accelerating device for rotating the paper roll by rotating the driven accelerating roller mounted on the supporting member by the driving accelerating roller driven by the variable-speed control motor are provided on the rack, however, the rack incorporating the variable-speed control motor has had to be mounted on the paper roll supporting device. For this reason, the paper roll supporting device of the second apparatus has tended to become larger in size in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, and the load-bearing span of the rotating shaft also has tended to become larger. Thus, an increased load on the rotating shaft has caused a larger deflection on the rotating shaft, leading to an offset of a paper web paid out from the paper roll. Offsets or wrinkles of the paper web not only cause troubles in printing operation, but also adversely affect printing quality.
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei-6(1994)-78136, when the paper roll support is moved along the rotating shaft to load a paper roll having a different roll width, the toothed pulley provided on the supporting member of the paper roll support is also moved. For this reason, the sub frame and the paper roll driving mechanism mounted thereon have had to be aligned with the position of the toothed pulley provided on the supporting member by operating the hydraulic cylinder. Movement of the paper roll driving mechanism by the hydraulic cylinder, however, is limited by the telescopic stroke of the hydraulic cylinder rod. For this reason, the moving position of the paper roll support has had to be accurately set, and this position alignment has been a troublesome operation. In addition, too large a misalignment could have led to a damage to teeth due to insufficient engagement, or failure of engagement, between the double face toothed timing belt of the paper roll driving mechanism and the toothed pulley mounted on the supporting member. Such troubles have adversely affected paper roll splicing and the overall printing operation. Moreover, this apparatus has not been able to accommodate a paper roll of a predetermined width only at a predetermined position in the axial direction of the rotating shaft due to the fixed telescopic stroke of the hydraulic cylinder rod. Furthermore, since the driving shaft movable together with the sub frame has to be always connected to the drive source mounted on the outside of the frame, the driving shaft has required an extra length as long as the telescopic stroke of the hydraulic cylinder rod, and a special shape such as a spline or castellated shape, leading to an increased cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper roll driving apparatus that requires less time for printing preparation as a result of eliminating the manual operation for positioning a driven mechanism for transmitting rotation to a paper roll supported by paper roll supports and a driving transmission mechanism that can be connected to the driven mechanism, and eliminating the need for accurately setting the position of the paper roll support, even when the paper roll supports are caused to move so as to load a paper roll of a different width, that eliminates troubles in paper roll splicing by preventing misalignment between the driven mechanism and the driving transmission mechanism, thereby ensuring the positive rotation of the paper roll, and that eliminates troubles in printing operation due to offsets or wrinkles on the travelling paper web paid out from the paper roll by reducing the supporting span of the rotating shaft and the load on the rotating shaft, thereby preventing the deflection of the rotating shaft.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a paper roll driving apparatus that can load paper rolls of different widths at a desired position in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, thereby rotating a paper roll without trouble, and that can be manufactured at a low cost.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a paper roll driving apparatus that can prevent possible troubles caused when the driving transmission mechanism is moved in accordance with the movement of the paper roll support, such as sagging or tangles of power cables for feeding power to the prime mover of the driving transmission mechanism.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a paper roll driving apparatus in which the driven mechanism and the driving transmission mechanism are connected to each other with the increased contact surface area of both so as to more positively rotate the paper roll and distribute the load exerted on the contact area between both, thereby preventing the driven mechanism and the driving transmission mechanism from being damaged due to overload.
The present invention has such a construction that, in a paper roll driving apparatus for use in paper roll feeding apparatus comprising paper roll supports that are supported facing each other on a rotatable driven rotating shaft and can be moved along the rotating shaft and fixed at a desired position, at least a pair of support members that are provided facing each other on the paper roll supports and can be rotated around a rotating center line parallel to the axial center of the rotating shaft, a driven mechanism provided on each of the supporting member of at least any one of the paper roll supports, and a driving transmission mechanism that can be connected to the driven mechanism; wherein the paper roll being supported in parallel with the rotating shaft by the paper roll support via the support members; the support members being rotated by connecting the driven mechanism to the driving transmission mechanism; and the paper roll being rotatably provided via the support members,
a prime mover moving mechanism having a guide rail provided in parallel with the rotating shaft and a moving body that can be reciprocated freely along the guide rail and has a prime mover mounted thereon, and the moving body being connected to the paper roll supports and adapted to be movable in the direction parallel to the rotating shaft in accordance with the movement of the paper roll supports along the rotating shaft; and a driving transmission mechanism having a relay shaft rotatably provided on the moving body in parallel with the rotating shaft, an arm mounted on the moving body in such a manner as to be pivotable along the axial center of the relay shaft, and a pivoting means are provided, wherein both the prime mover and the driving transmission mechanism being integrally movable, together with the paper roll supports, in parallel with the rotating shaft.
Furthermore, the present invention has such a construction that, in a paper roll driving apparatus for use in paper roll feeding apparatus comprising paper roll supports that are supported facing each other on a rotatable driven rotating shaft and can be moved along the rotating shaft and fixed at a desired position, at least a pair of support members that are provided on the paper roll supports facing each other and can be rotated around a rotating center line parallel to the axial center of the rotating shaft, a driven mechanism provided on each of the supporting member of at least any one of the paper roll supports, and a driving transmission mechanism that can be connected to the driven mechanism; the paper roll being supported in parallel with the rotating shaft by the paper roll support via the support members; the support members being rotated by connecting the driven mechanism to the driving transmission mechanism; and the paper roll being rotatably provided via the support members,
a prime mover moving mechanism having a guide rail provided in parallel with the rotating shaft and a moving body that can be reciprocated freely along the guide rail and has a prime mover mounted thereon, and the moving body being connected to the paper roll supports and adapted to be movable in the direction parallel to the rotating shaft in accordance with the movement of the paper roll supports along the rotating shaft; a cable supporting mechanism for supporting between both ends thereof a power feeding cable where a plurality of links are connected in such a manner as to be bendable only in one direction, with one end thereof fitted to the moving body, the links bent between both ends, the other end thereof fixedly fitted to a part in the middle or vicinity of the moving range of the moving body; and a driving transmission mechanism comprising a relay shaft rotatably provided on the moving body in parallel with the rotating shaft, an arm mounted on the moving body in such a manner as to be pivotable around the axial center of the relay shaft and having a transmission part that is driven by the prime mover via the relay shaft, and a pivoting means, wherein both the prime mover and the driving transmission mechanism adapted to be integrally movable, together with the paper roll support, in parallel with the rotating shaft.
With the aforementioned construction, the following operations can be expected. That is, in the present invention, the paper roll support is moved along the rotating shaft to load paper rolls of different widths. Along with this movement, the driven mechanism is also moved via the support members provided on the paper roll support. Furthermore, as the moving body connected to the paper roll support is moved by the same distance and in the same direction as the paper roll support along the guide rail provided in parallel with the rotating shaft, the prime mover fitted to the moving body is also moved in a similar manner. With this movement, the power feeding cable to the prime mover is moved while supported by the cable supporting mechanism as the cable supporting mechanism is bent.
As the moving body is moved, on the other hand, the transmission part of the driving transmission mechanism is moved by the same distance and in the same direction as the paper roll support via the arm mounted on the moving body, with the result that no misalignment is caused in the axial direction of the rotating shaft between the driven mechanism and the transmission part of the driving transmission mechanism.
The pivoting means of the driving transmission mechanism is actuated at the position after the movement, causing the arm to pivot at a predetermined angle to connect the transmission part to the driven mechanism. That is, the double-face toothed belt as the transmission part is caused to make contact with the toothed pulley of the driven mechanism, engaging the teeth of both with each other.
As the transmission part is connected to the driven mechanism, the prime mover is actuated to cause the transmission part to rotate via the relay shaft, thereby causing the paper roll to rotate via the driven mechanism and the supporting members making contact with the transmission part.